The present invention relates to an automatic method for the drop-off of objects for the purpose of the transport of said objects. It also relates to a system implementing this method.
The field of the invention is the field of the transport of objects and, more particularly, the field of air transport.
The invention can more particularly be implemented in locations such as airports, for bag drop by an air transport passenger for the purpose of transporting bags in the hold of an aircraft.
It can also be implemented in locations such as post offices for the drop-off of packages to be transported by a postal delivery service.
The early bag drop systems installed in airports comprise a main conveyor belt. Bags are placed on the main conveyor belt by handlers who transport these bags from a drop-off area to the main conveyor belt. Once placed on the main conveyor belt, bags are transported by the main conveyor belt to an area for loading bags into the aeroplane.
New-generation systems comprise, in addition to the main conveyor belt, conveyor belts called secondary conveyor belts, linking the drop-off area to the main conveyor belt and avoiding the need for handlers to transport bags from the drop-off area to the main conveyor belt. Bags are dropped on the secondary conveyor belts by authorized handlers, after the passengers' boarding cards have been verified.
These new-generation systems have been modified in order to allow bags to be dropped in an automated manner by users for the purpose, inter alia, of obtaining a more rapid bag drop. In order to do this, the loading area has been equipped with a terminal making it possible to verify the user's boarding card and his entitlement to carry a bag in the hold, and optionally to print an identification tag for his bag.
However, many airports are still equipped with the early bag drop systems: these systems comprise a main conveyor belt only, and no secondary conveyor belt. The bags dropped by users in the drop-off areas are loaded onto the main conveyor belt by handlers.
Equipping each of these airports with a new-generation bag drop system represents a high cost and a significant downtime. Moreover, existing airports do not always have sufficient space for installing secondary conveyor belts. In these airports it is therefore difficult and above all costly to install the existing automated systems.
The aim of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.
Another aim of the invention is to propose a bag drop method and system allowing bags to be dropped in a secure and automated manner directly onto the main conveyor belt, while being less costly than equipping existing sites with the early or second-generation systems described above.